Minnesota Drone Video: Sheep at Xcel Energy’s Sherco Solar Project

Hero clip: Waves of wool under solar panels at Sherco Solar

It’s not every day your drone flight plan involves nearly 2,000 sheep grazing across about 1,500 acres of prairie under solar panels. When I arrived at Xcel Energy’s Sherco Solar site in Becker, Minnesota, I was instantly surrounded by the white fluffy things. If I moved slowly, the sheep would wander right up: babies, grandmas, and every personality in between.

As a Minnesota drone video specialist by now, seeing everything from the air was really quite spectacular. The herd flowed in slow, amoebic waves of white dots below the blue solar grids. The symmetry of metal and motion felt almost choreographed and made for some of the coolest drone shots I've shot to date.

I’m proud to partner with Xcel Energy on storytelling like this. Across Minnesota, Texas, and Colorado, they are phasing out coal and investing in solar, wind, and nuclear energy, with Sherco growing toward one of the largest solar sites in the country at about 710 megawatts. In truth I was anxious about working with a big energy company. But seeing their sustainability work first-hand, including this grazing partnership with Minnesota Native Landscapes, helps me feel way better about our partnership. They're doing smart innovative things and reducing carbon emissions in cool ways. I'm on board.

Here's the short piece from Xcel (they edited this one internally):

If you’d like to see another Xcel Energy collaboration, check out my earlier post about creating a video story at UW–Eau Claire’s Sonnentag Center.

learn more:

• Sherco Solar project overview (Xcel Energy)

• MPR News: Hundreds of sheep help maintain Sherco Solar

• Fresh Energy: Touring Sherco Solar

• Minnesota Native Landscapes (grazing partner)